


The Cure For Frostbite

by croftingthroughtombs



Category: Bucky Barnes - Fandom, Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier - Fandom
Genre: Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hydra, Reader-Insert, curse words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 06:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 14,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2181198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/croftingthroughtombs/pseuds/croftingthroughtombs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky kidnaps you from the Smithsonian and demands you help him to figure out who he is. Directly after the events in The Winter Soldier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my fist ever fanfic, so I hope you like it. Feel free to drop me a comment if you wish, all are welcome :)

You enjoyed coming to the Smithsonian in the late afternoon. For whatever reason, it just seemed more peaceful. The sun was just beginning to set, and in its warm light, the world just seemed to be calmer. Basking in the orange light of the oncoming night, everything seemed to be that little bit more magical. It wasn’t like your life needed to be any calmer anyway, as nothing exciting ever really happened to you. You just had a normal, quiet, average life.

Your name was *_____ _____*. You lived in a medium sized apartment, had a couple of friends, a decent paying job. The basic necessities really. You were nothing special. You were slightly good looking with *___* hair and *___* eyes, but nobody that you knew of was interested in you. Why would they be? You were about as exciting as a white crayon.

But the truth was, you craved something new. You wanted to be exciting. You’d been pushed to work in the family business by your parents, and it felt like a dead end. Nothing leading to anything. Stuck – no – glued into a rut. It was the same thing every day, seconds dragging into hours, hours dragging into what felt like millennia. Life was so uneventful that every tick of the clock was more like a lullaby, sending you straight to sleep.

That’s why you enjoyed coming to the Smithsonian. It was a chance to see something other than your own existence. In this situation, time standing still wouldn’t be a bad thing, as you could spend a thousand life times just wandering through the museum, reading about the past. The lives of other people had always fascinated you. You had spent years at school studying history, since it had always been your favourite subject, and now that the Captain America exhibit was open, you had something new to study that gave you a sense of freedom and excitement, just what the doctor ordered. Captain America and his Howling Commandos. The perfect escape.

You were in your own little world, picturing yourself as a member of the Howling Commandos. Chatting with Bucky Barnes, or even Captain America himself. _‘The impossible dream,’_ you thought to yourself.

Not so impossible, as it turned out.

As you were daydreaming, you were violently pulled away from the exhibit and out of your daydream into a shadowed corner. Whoever it was that pulled you had an incredibly tight grip on your arm, because no matter how hard you struggled, you weren’t going anywhere. You were trapped.

You stood upright to face the person who had hold of you. More upright than you’d originally anticipated, as they were quite a bit taller than you. From what you could see, they were wearing a hoodie that had the hood pulled up and over their face. This meant that you couldn’t see who it was that had grabbed you. _‘Damn.’_

Even though you couldn’t properly see them, you could tell it was a man. And you could also tell that he was staring, eyes locked on yours, not planning on looking away.

“Who the hell are you? What do you want?” You eventually asked.

All you were answered with was a silencing finger to your lips, which you instantly thought was very rude. But given the circumstances, you changed your mind. It wasn’t the rudest thing that happened.

The man put his – extremely cold -- arm around you and guided you towards the museum exit. _'How very inconspicuous,'_ you thought. Was he trying to make out that you were his girlfriend? Whoever this strange man was, he obviously wanted to remain hidden. Did this mean that he was a fugitive? Or just out of his mind?

Fear was spiking in your brain. A million questions were racing, but they all came down to the same two unanswered queries. Number 1, who was this man? And number 2, what did he want?

You needed to get away from him, but struggling was still doing absolutely nothing. His arm was strong, very strong, so it wouldn’t budge no matter how hard you pushed.

“What do you want with me?” You tried asking again, but this time in a more hushed voice, thinking that this way you’d actually get an answer, as anyone else wouldn’t have heard you.

“I need you to help me,” the man replied after a good few seconds.

“Help you? You’ve got to be joking.”

You almost laughed at this ridiculous comment. Help him? You didn’t even know him. He was definitely crazy, kidnapping random people he didn’t even know, and had never even seen, and asking them for help.

“I’m not,” the man said ominously, almost monotone. His voice indicated that he was, in fact, not joking at all. You could tell he wasn’t even lying.

“Give me one good reason why I should,” you demanded.

You were greeted by silence. Again. _‘Great.’_

The man was still guiding you. Controlling your every movement. One step out of line, and he immediately corrected you. It was almost as if you weren’t allowed to blink without his command.

The hooded bastard was adamant that he called the shots here.

You, once again, tried to get a look at his face, to see if you could recognise him. It was another useless attempt, as he was facing straight ahead with his hood still up.

In the end, you had no choice but to obey Mr. Incognito and follow his footsteps wherever they led you.

Even if it was into total danger.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope you're enjoying reading this so far. I'm certainly enjoying writing it :)

The destination that the man was leading you to became apparent now. It was a scruffy looking car that was caked in dust and had dents in the doors. The only thing you could think was _‘he probably stole it.’_  You wouldn’t exactly put thievery past a man who kidnaps complete strangers from museums.

 

At last he released his grip on you. You were free to run away, but any thought of that was pushed to the back of your mind. You knew you wouldn’t get far anyway. The man looked like he was a fast runner. And he looked like the type that would severely punish you for even attempting to escape.

 

He gestured to the passenger door in the front of the car, and you made your way towards it. You weren’t looking at him, but you could feel his eyes on you, watching your every move. He was liked a bird of prey, watching a little mouse in a field, ready to strike at any moment. The thing is, mouse or man, no one knows when that moment is.

 

You got in the car. What other choice did you have? It was either help the psycho, or run and be beaten -- even killed -- by said psycho.

 

The question at this moment was, ‘ _where is he taking me now?’_

 

You didn’t dare try to ask that, in fear of the man getting angry, because the location may have been some kind of secret, something very hush hush. So instead you tried your previous question again.

 

“Who are you?” You questioned, rather irritably.

 

 

“Hello?” You raised your voice to him now, as if you were scorning a badly behaved pet.

  
Still nothing.

 

“Listen, if you want my help, I deserve some answers,” perhaps this would be a suitable bargain for some speech, as your argument did make sense.

 

Guess what? More nothing.

 

You were utterly fed up at this point. You couldn’t even be bothered trying anymore, so you just sat there in silence with your arms folded. Granted, you did look a little bit like a sulking child, but you didn’t care. You were angry at this man, whoever the hell he was.

 

He kept his eyes fixed on the road. He was barely blinking. He didn’t appear to be moving at all, or even breathing. He may as well have been a machine. That would explain the lack of speaking.

 

His hood had fallen back a bit, just enough for you to be able to ever so slightly see his face, but not enough for him to notice and pull it back over. He had rugged features, with stubble covering the bottom half of his face. He looked extremely tough, like the type of person to shoot you if you said one word wrong. But his eyes, they were different. They seemed more delicate than the rest of his face, and almost.... _sad_? No, that would be impossible. This machine of a man wouldn’t show any emotion. Not even in his voice, or what little of his voice you had actually heard.

 

The car kept moving. The inside of it remained deathly silent. You were alone with your own mind, which you found was longing for the dull and boring rut of your everyday life. Especially the part of it that didn’t involve being snatched by strange men in museums. That part would have felt like heaven now.

 

You were so deep in your own thoughts that you hadn’t noticed that the car had stopped. You were outside a gas station.

 

_‘What kind of fugitive stops for gas?’_ You pondered.

 

The man got out of the car, and made sure he had locked it before he walked away. He really didn’t want you to go anywhere.

 

You watched him carefully as he refuelled the car and paid for it. Nothing about him suggested that he was at all mentally unstable. He was acting like a normal human being. No strange movements, he didn’t pull a gun on the guy working in the gas station. You still didn’t trust him though. No way, no how.

 

As soon as he got back into the car, you were off again.

 

You must have been driving for hours. You almost dozed off a few times, but you were determined to stay awake to make sure that the man didn’t try and pull anything funny.

 

You had to admit it, you were scared. Terrified, in fact. You really thought that you were going to die. You thought of all the people that you never got to say goodbye to. Your parents, your friends, your sister. Your sister had helped you through so much and had always been there for you. She was a best friend as well as a sister. Every rejection, every heartbreak, every difficulty, she was there with a kind word, a comforting hug and a smile. And you’d never see her again. You were on the brink of tears now, but you knew you mustn’t show any weakness in front of this man, as he could possibly use it against you.

 

But weakness wasn’t presently the thing you should have been most concerned with. The car had stopped again. This time outside a run-down old house. You figured that this was the end of the line, and where you were trapped again.

 

The man got out of the car, and opened the door for you to follow.

 

You didn’t though, and this evidently just made him angry. He reached over you, undid your seatbelt, and then dragged you off the seat himself. He yanked you by the arm and pretty much threw you towards the door of the house – if you could even call it that.

“Move,” the man commanded you.

 

You stayed still.

 

“I said, move!” He shouted.

 

He gave up with the instructions and grabbed you by the arm, again. He pulled you into the house through the door, and as he let go you fell to the floor in a heap.

 

You heard the click of a lock and realised you were trapped, again.


	3. Chapter 3

“Where are we?” You tried to ask, not knowing if you would actually get a response or not.

 

“A house,” the man stated.

 

 _‘Well you don’t say,’_ you thought.

 

But the man continued to speak, which was very surprising, considering you could barely even get two words out of the man just a few hours ago.

 

“This is my house. I found it. There was no one here and I needed somewhere to stay. I had nowhere else to go.”

 

Okay, so he wasn’t just a crazy person anymore, he was a homeless crazy person. You had no sympathy. You were just angry and the only way you were coping with all this was by making interior sarcastic comment to yourself.

 

Now, exterior sarcastic comments, that was a different matter, and that wasn’t even a microscopic thought for you. It wasn’t even something that would begin to form in your mind, as that would probably be enough to get yourself killed. You figured that you’d be better off if you kept quiet when it came to that.

 

You finally got up off the floor and stood up, adjusting your posture so that it was straight and asserted your dominance. You were hoping that this would make you appear taller, and therefore more powerful, than you actually were. In reality, you were a considerable amount shorted than this man, so you tried your hardest to decrease the height difference.

 

“Why won’t you tell me who you are or what you want?” You asked defiantly. You needed answers, and you weren’t going to give up until you got them.

 

“I’ve already told you what I want,” the man answered.

 

“Yeah, but you weren’t very specific. What do you want my help for?”

 

“It’s getting late.”

 

You didn’t see how that had anything to do with anything. He was obviously trying to change the topic of conversation.

 

“What? That didn’t answer...” You were cut off.

 

“It’s late. We’ll talk in the morning,” and with that, the man showed you to a small room with a bed in it. It wasn’t very clean, but you supposed it would do. He seemed to be used to it.

 

He locked the door after shutting you in, and that’s when you noticed that the room had no windows. No escape. It was more like a prison cell than a bedroom. Luckily, this prison cell had an en suite bathroom, so you were able to clean yourself up before you went to bed.

 

You didn’t get much sleep anyway. You lay awake more or less the whole night, just staring at the ceiling and thinking. Thinking of how ungrateful you were for your quaint little life. It was simple and boring, yes, but it was a damn sight better than this. You were a hostage now. A prisoner to a man who refused to share his identity with you. It was hardly ideal. You wished so hard and prayed to any god that would listen that you were just dreaming. That you were really back at your own apartment, sitting in front of the television in your pyjamas, gently drifting off to sleep.

 

No. You weren’t dreaming. This was all too real. You were lying on a bed that felt like concrete, in a room that smelled like a toilet, not knowing how much longer you were going to live.

 

The tears had started flowing by this point. You couldn’t keep all this emotion behind a wall any longer. You were crumbling, breaking, cracking, whatever word you want to use, you weren’t stable. You were falling apart at the seams as anger and upset bubbled up a storm that was waiting to come out.

 

You wanted to kill the man that did this to you, that snatched you from your life. But you were stuck in this room, this jail. There was nothing you could do about it and that just made you angrier.

 

You had no choice now other than to just accept your fate and wait for the morning to come. Maybe then you’d get some god damn answers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anybody who is reading this. I am very very grateful to all of you :D

By the time the morning actually came, you had gotten only one, maybe two, hours sleep. Not much at all. You were exhausted. You could have slept for weeks, if your bed hadn’t been so uncomfortable that is. You may as well have been lying on the sidewalk.

 

There was a tiny sliver of light coming in through underneath the door. This let you know that the sun had risen, and you’d now have to face that man again.

 

You remembered that he told you that you’d talk in the morning. Did that mean you’d get some answered to your questions finally? You didn’t know. _‘Probably not,’_ you figured. The man was rather reluctant in giving away details about anything. Location, identity, you name it. His lips were sealed to you. Even though this information was kind of your business.

 

Whilst you were still lying down with only your thoughts keeping you company, you heard the click of the lock on the door. _‘Oh god no.’_

 

You straight away leapt out of the bed and stood bolt upright, waiting for the door to open and for the man to appear.

 

The door creaked open slowly, but the man didn’t come into the room. He instead gestured for you to come out. So you did. You didn’t want to be pushed and pulled for about the millionth time.

 

You followed the man to the first room you had seen when you were thrown through the front door. There was two sofas in the room, one grey and one black, with a dirty rug covering the centre of the floor, and that was about it. It was a plain room. Well, it was a plain house. Just the basics really. Only stuff that was needed. From what you could see, there was also a kitchen, a bathroom, and another bedroom. Each most likely as dirty and small as the last.

 

After you had finished observing the house, you noticed that the man was now telling you to sit on one of the sofas. You picked the black one, given the fact that is looked the least dusty. You sat down, and the man came and sat next to you.

 

You could see his face now, as he was no longer wearing his hoodie. Something about it was eerily familiar. You felt like you knew who this man was, despite never meeting him, or even coming across him before in your entire life.

 

“Who are you?” You tried asking, once again. Maybe now he’d actually give you a straight answer.

 

“I don’t know,” the man said, completely and deathly serious.

 

“You don’t know? How can you not know who you are?”

 

“That’s the problem, and why I need your help.”

 

“How do you expect me to help when I’ve never met you before? I don’t know who you are.”

 

“I saw you studying the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian, that’s why I picked you.”

 

That’s when it hit you. You did know who this man was. That’s why he looked so familiar to you.

 

It was Bucky Barnes.

 

Or, more recently known as the Winter Soldier.

 

_‘Oh shit.’_

 

That’s why his arm felt so cold when he put it around you. And that’s why it was so strong. It was made of metal. He was the Winter Soldier. An assassin. A freaking murderer! You were even more terrified now, if that was even possible.

 

An assassin wanted your help to figure out who he was, which was absolutely crazy and surreal. This was nuts. You didn’t want to help him, even if he was Bucky Barnes. He was a killer, and would probably do away with you if he were given the chance.

 

But, in the end, you didn’t really have a say in the matter. You had to help him. He’d kidnapped you and would most likely kill you if you refused.

 

“You’re Bucky Barnes,” you said to him eventually.

 

“So I’ve heard,” he replied.

 

“Do you not remember anything?”

 

“Having your mind wiped by HYDRA is bound to make you forget things.”  


Oh, so now he was being sarcastic. A sarcastic murderer, just what you needed.

 

“You’ve been studying Captain America and the Howling Commandos, haven’t you?” He continued, “That’s why you’re going to help me. You know about me, you know who I am.”

 

“Well, yeah, I do, but I don’t see why you just expect me to help. I mean, you did kidnap me,” you argued.

 

“I have to keep a low profile. I can’t let HYDRA find me again.”

 

“And kidnapping is the way to do that?”

 

He didn’t reply to that. He probably couldn’t think of a reasonable excuse.

 

This was so crazy. You had been kidnapped, by a brain washed assassin, who had been working for a Nazi organisation, and probably had a shed load of people looking for him. Captain America was probably looking for him. And what could you do about it? Nothing. Not a single thing. You were stuck, trapped, with no escape, and you had no other option that to help the former Winter Soldier.

 

_‘Just brilliant.’_


	5. Chapter 5

You couldn’t believe you were actually doing this. And not even trying to back out of it. Helping an assassin remember who he is wasn’t exactly an event on the calendar.

 

“So, you know that you’re Bucky Barnes?” You started, trying to get the conversation rolling. The sooner you got this done, the better.

 

“I’ve been told I am. I don’t know who that is though,” the ex- Winter Soldier replied.

 

 _‘Helpful. This is gonna take a long time,’_  you thought to yourself.

 

“We’ve got a lot to do then,” you decided on saying. You still figured that sarcasm wasn’t a good idea. “What do you remember HYRDA doing to you?”

 

Bucky didn’t answer. He instead passed you a folder with several sheets of paper wedged inside.

 

You opened the folder. Each piece of paper had HYDRA written in bold across the top of it. There were also pictures. Pictures of Bucky inside some kind of cryogenic freezer. _‘That must be how they kept him young,’_ you realised.

 

You read through every piece of information there, and you discovered that Bucky had had his mind wiped clean of any memories, and he was trained to be a cold blooded killer. Any sign of memories creeping back in, and he was wiped again.

 

“They really did all that to you?” You asked him.

 

“Yes,” he replied.

 

God, you were starting to feel sorry for the guy, which was that last thing you’d expect. After all, he did kidnap you, and now you were feeling sympathy for him? But to be fair, what HYDRA did to him was pretty cruel. You couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for him, to have his entire mind scrubbed clean. How could people be so evil?

 

Despite the sympathy, you were still scared of the man. The fear was making sure that you helped him, so you wouldn’t be endangered.

 

You pulled a notebook out of your jacket pocked. You always made notes when you were at the museum, it’s how you learnt the information that was there.

 

You handed the collection of notes to him and said, “Here. Everything I know about Bucky Barnes is in here. Read through it.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

His voice was a lot kinder sounding now. Perhaps he had realised that he scared you. Or maybe he was just that desperate for help.

 

His eyes really did look sad. Your observation from yesterday had been accurate. You couldn’t really blame him for being sad, after all he’d been put through. The poor guy.

 

Hang on, poor guy? No, you couldn’t think that. You shouldn’t think that. He kidnapped you! Took you away from your family, your friends, and your life.

 

That bit of sympathy was really creeping through now, and you couldn’t help it.

 

About an hour later, Bucky had finished reading through your notebook. He read every word in it, and now he had a look on his face of complete shock. Did he remember who he was now? You thought that you’d better ask.

 

“Do you remember anything now?” You tried to make yourself sound caring.

 

Bucky just continued to stare at the notebook.

 

“Bucky?” Could he hear you?

 

“I.... I remember....” He finally spoke, sounding like he was going to cry. “I’m James Buchanan Barnes.”

 

Rather than being worried about him, you pondered the question; _‘does this mean I can leave now?_ ’ You didn’t dare ask though. Not yet anyway.

 

So instead you settled on just agreeing with him.

 

“Yes, you are,” you said.

 

He was still staring at the notebook in his hands. He still looked shocked, like this was all a huge revelation for him. Well, it was really. He didn’t know anything about himself, and now he did.

 

“And I want revenge on HYDRA for doing all that shit to me,” he said.

 

“Well I hope you don’t expect me to help you with that part,” you almost chuckled.

 

“No, of course not. You can go now, but please, don’t tell anyone what happened. I can’t risk being found.”

 

Oh yeah, don’t tell anyone that you were kidnapped. Because that’s what people normally do in that circumstance.

 

“Please?” He repeated.

 

He was really desperate for you to not tell anyone. Understandable, really. HYDRA might find him if news of him being around came out. Maybe even Captain America would find him. You didn’t really see how that would be a problem, but you knew you shouldn’t risk it anyway. After all, with Bucky being a former assassin and all, he could come after you.

 

In the end you agreed to his request.

 

“Okay, I won’t tell anyone,” you said.

 

“Thank you. You can go now.”

 

Just as Bucky was about to reach for the door to unlock it and let you out, it was very violently kicked in. As the dust cleared, you could see about five or six  men in uniform standing outside.

 

“Give us the Winter Soldier,” one of them said.


	6. Chapter 6

You wanted to scream. You wanted to run. But you couldn’t. You were stuck in place and stuck in silence. Your brain was telling you to move, but your legs refused to listen.

 

“Give us the Winter Soldier!” The man repeated, this time louder.

 

You were still frozen. And it looked like Bucky was as well. But he could speak as it turned out.

 

“Run, now,” he said to you.

 

Luckily, your legs started working again at this, so you ran. You ran into the kitchen, where there was another door. You didn’t hesitate to open the door and run as far away and for as long as you could.

 

What you didn’t notice was that one of the men in uniforms was following you, and he seemed to be a lot faster than you were. He soon caught up to you and tackled you to the ground,  then cuffing your hands together. You were a real prisoner now.

 

The man dragged you kicking and screaming back to the house, where Bucky had also been cuffed. He didn’t go down without a fight though, as you could see that two of the men were unconscious on the ground with blood trickling down their faces. You wondered if they were dead, since Bucky could have quite easily killed them.

 

You were thrown down onto the sofa next to Bucky, who now looked like the personification of anger.

 

“What do you want? Who are you?” You asked desperately.

 

God, you were asking that question a lot lately.

 

“We are HYRDA, and we are here to collect what is ours,” one of the men replied, “And his little whore.”

 

“I’m sorry, what? How dare...”

 

“Silence!”  


You obeyed and quickly shut your mouth.

 

The man continued speaking, “We had agents posted all over Washington, including in the Smithsonian. We followed him there, and we followed him here.”

 

Surely it was over now? Even if the Winter Soldier didn’t kill you, HYRDA probably would. You had to come to terms with the fact that you would most likely not get out of this alive.

 

You were soon pulled to your feet again along with Bucky and shoved out the front door. There was a truck parked directly outside, with two more men in the front seats.

 

The man who had hand cuffed you instructed you to get into the truck. You couldn’t really disobey, now could you? You had no other choice than to go with these HYRDA agents.

 

You and Bucky got into the back of the truck and door was slammed shut and locked behind you. You were really stuck now.

 

“I’m sorry,” you just about heard Bucky say in a quiet voice, “I’m sorry for all of this, I really am.”

 

“It’s alright,” you said in reply, even though you didn’t know whether or not you were being completely truthful.

 

Everything was more or less silent after that. All you could hear was the rumble of the truck on the road and the muttering of several HYRDA agents.

 

You must have been in there for hours before the truck finally came to a halt.

 

It stopped outside what looked like an old military base. But as old as it may have been, it was definitely not abandoned. There must have been hundreds, possibly even thousands of men stood outside. And each one had a gun. No use in trying to run then.

 

The agents in the truck got out one by one and then they came round the side and opened the door to where you and Bucky were sat.

 

One of them motioned for you both to get out of the truck and walk towards the entrance to the base.

 

You both complied, not seeing another option at all.


	7. Chapter 7

The inside of the military base was cold. Probably even colder than outside. And it was completely littered with HYDRA agents. Some with guns, some who appeared to be scientists. Either way, there was a lot of them.

 

You and Bucky were marched through the corridors until you were instructed to stop.

 

One of the agents surrounding you was holding several keys on a metal ring. They looked like the keys for prison cells, which, as it turned out, they were. He unlocked the door to a room and opened it. It was quite a large room. It was very spacious, as there was virtually nothing in it. Just a couple of beds and a toilet. Basically, your standard prison cell.

 

You were pushed inside and Bucky was pushed in after you. You had had just about enough of being pushed by this point, but you weren’t planning on arguing.

 

“Enjoy your stay,” one of the agents said with an incredibly evil and smug grin on his face, as he sealed you both inside the room.

 

That’s what all these people were. They were just evil. No doubt about it. There is absolutely nothing good about being willing to kill thousands of people in an attempt to achieve success. HYDRA was a Nazi organisation, after all, and their ideals had hardly changed in 70 years. They were still just as ruthless and heartless as they had always been.

 

You were locked in a room with Bucky again, but this time with a twist; Bucky wasn’t the one that had locked you in. He was just as much a prisoner as you now.

 

At least he was talking now. You figured that you may as well try to make conversation with him, as a measure of making sure that neither of you went insane.

 

“So...” You started, before realising that you didn’t actually have anything to say. You didn’t try to start a conversation again.

 

But, Bucky did.

 

“I never asked you your name,” he said.

 

“It’s *_____*,” you told him.

 

“*_____*. That’s a nice name.”

 

“Thanks, I guess.”

 

After that, there was silence again. And it wasn’t peaceful silence, it was just awkward. So you tried to start another conversation. You had another question that you wanted to ask Bucky.

 

“Why did you pick me to help you?” You questioned.

 

“What?”

 

“You could have picked anybody there. There were lots of people looking at the same thing I was. So why did you pick me?”

 

“You looked lonely.”

 

Wow. _‘That was a bit harsh,’_ you thought. But, it was true, you were lonely. You may have had friends, but you still felt alone. You had always been very shy, and not a very easy person to talk to.

 

“You also looked kind,” Bucky continued, “ I felt like I could trust you.”

 

“But you don’t even know me,” you stated.

 

“I know, but there was just something about you that seemed.... trustworthy.”

 

“Fair enough.”

 

“I am so sorry. I’m sorry I got you into all of this. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

 

“It’s not your fault,” _‘Well, the kidnapping part was,’_ “HYDRA started it.”

 

The interior sarcastic monologue was still present in your mind, in light of the fact that you were still very angry with Bucky. Yes, you did feel sorry for him because of everything that HYDRA had done to him, but you were still angry. You don’t forgive a kidnapper just like that.

 

_‘Why did this have to happen to me?’_


	8. Chapter 8

Days and days went by whilst you and Bucky were still prisoners to HYDRA. Every now and again agents would come in to bring you scrappy little meals that were enough to barely keep you alive. Occasionally Bucky would be taken away by agents that appeared to be scientists, no doubt for experiments you figured. They must have been trying to turn him back into their personal weapon.

 

However, whatever they were doing didn’t seem to be working so far. His memories were still completely intact and he acted like he always did.

 

You had grown used to, and quite fond of his company. He was quite a good conversationalist, and you found yourself becoming friends with him fairly quickly.

 

It was almost laughable really. You had become friends with the man who had gotten you into this situation in the first place. Well, then again, anything can happen in the face of fear. Bucky wasn’t as frightened as you were, but he was still scared.

 

The reason that he wasn’t as scared was probably because he was used to all of HYDRA’s experiments and tortures. After all, he had been dealing with all of this for the best part of 70 years. Ever since he had fallen off that train, he had been HYDRA’s guinea pig, having to endure all of their scientific investigations, which included having his left arm replaced with a hunk of metal.

 

He shared all of this with you over the past few days. There was literally nothing to do apart from talk. You told him all about your life – even though there wasn’t much detail or excitement in that – and he told you all about his. He told you about his time with Captain America, or rather, Steve, as he preferred to call him. You learnt that they had grown up together and were virtually inseparable. You learnt that Steve was always getting himself into trouble, and Bucky always had to sort it out for him, no matter how much Steve protested it.

 

You enjoyed hearing all these little stories. It was like history was coming alive especially for you, and Bucky was the source of it. You were sure that he was the most interesting person you had ever met. Then again, you hadn’t ever met someone who had lived through World War II and stayed the same age from then to the present day.

 

Now that Bucky had someone to talk to and share his life stories with, his eyes seemed less sad. They seemed brighter and more alive. He was actually smiling; you could hear emotion in his voice. He was so much different than the man you had met in the museum.

 

You were becoming increasingly fond of him. Not just of his company or stories, but of him. You were beginning to realise just how attractive his features were. Admittedly, he did look a little bit like a homeless person because of his scruffy stubble and hair, but you didn’t mind that.

 

Wait, hold on a minute. Were you developing a crush on the Winter Soldier? You kept telling yourself _‘no,’_ but you couldn’t completely deny it.

 

He had such soulful, beautiful blue eyes. His facial features were rugged and manly, but also gentle at the same time. He had this unmistakable quality of a man who would look after you if you were sick, but could also snap a bone or two if he needed to.

 

Yeah, you couldn’t deny it anymore. You liked Bucky, a lot.


	9. Chapter 9

Screaming. You could hear screaming.

 

You were shaken from your sleep by that horrible, shrieking sound. You checked the bed next to you to see if Bucky was okay.

 

But he wasn’t there.

 

The scientist agents must have taken him while you were sleeping. They must have been experimenting on him again. Trying to turn him back into the killer they had trained him to be.

 

You wanted to run to him and help him. But you couldn’t. You were locked in this room, and even if you could get out by some miracle, you’d be useless against HYDRA’s agents. They’d have you beaten to a pulp in no time.

 

_‘Hopefully it won’t work again,’_ you thought – no, prayed – to yourself.

 

Although there was always the slight chance that it would. He would be turned into that ruthless murderer again. And you would probably be selected as his first target. There was nothing you could do about it. The only thing you could do was wait and see what happened.

 

You lay awake for hours. The screaming and shouting carried on throughout that whole time, so even if you had wanted to go back to sleep, you wouldn’t have been able to.

 

It was haunting.

 

Eventually, there was silence again. This was more disturbing to you than the screaming, which you had gotten used to.

 

Now it was a matter of whether or not Bucky was still himself. He could come back and kill you straight away.

 

When the door to the room opened, you expected it to be Bucky that walked in, but instead it was a HYDRA agent.

 

“Good news, girlie,” he said to you, “You’re free to go.”

 

You were too shocked to reply. You were free? What about Bucky? Where was he? You couldn’t see him anywhere near. Had the experiments worked? _‘Oh god, what if they have?’_

 

Out of all these questions, you chose to ask, “Where’s Bucky?”

 

“Ah, the Soldier. He’s not going anywhere,” the agent replied slyly.

 

“What did you do to him?”

 

“Nothing that hasn’t already been done. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

 

You weren’t hiding the fact that you were panicking. Your breathing had become rapid and tears were starting to form in your eyes. From what you could tell, it had worked. Bucky wasn’t Bucky anymore.

 

“Now I suggest you get going, girlie,” said the agent.

 

You didn’t stop to ask any more questions, you just left as fast as you possibly could. You just wanted to get out of there. Now that Bucky was the Winter Soldier again, you were most likely in a lot of danger. HYDRA probably wanted to get you rid of you, now that you had seen what they are doing, and that they were still around in the first place.

 

Before you left, another agent gave you some change so you could get the bus home. After a lot of walking to actually find a bus stop, that is.

 

You thought that it was incredibly generous of them to do so, which made you very suspicious. You knew you were screwed now, so you picked up the pace and high-tailed it out of the base and to the nearest bus stop.

 

You had about two hours of walking before you got to it though, so when you got to sit down on the bus, you were relieved. You were exhausted since you had barely gotten any sleep for the past few days.

 

You sat in your seat on the bus in complete silence. You must have looked dead to the other people on it, because you were barely blinking and your face had gone extremely pale. But really, if they knew what you had been through in the past few days, they wouldn’t exactly be surprised that you almost looked ill.

 

You were alone with your thoughts again. You were thinking about your family, who must have been worried sick about you, even if you didn’t live with them anymore. You usually talk to your sister, Jo, everyday, so she would have certainly noticed that something was wrong. You told yourself that you would go and see her as soon as you got back home, and tell her everything that had happened. So what if you had promised Bucky you wouldn’t tell anyone what he did? He wasn’t himself anymore.

 

He was HYDRA’s weapon again.


	10. Chapter 10

“You were what?” Jo asked, with obvious concern in her voice

 

You had luckily made it home and to Jo’s house in one piece. There seemed to be no sign of any HYDRA agents, but you didn’t know for sure, because it’s pretty much their job to remain secret.

 

“I was kidnapped and take hostage by HYDRA,” you told Jo, again.

 

“HYDRA? Like, as is what Captain America was fighting?”

 

“Yep, the very same.”

 

“Dude, that must have been rough.”  
  
“You’re telling me.”

 

“They didn’t hurt you did they?”

 

“Surprisingly, no.”

 

“Oh thank God!”

 

Jo was your average big sister. Caring, but she could also drive you out of your mind if she wanted to. Despite her joking nature, you couldn’t wish for a better big sister. You were incredibly lucky to have her. And you trusted her with anything.

 

You made her promise to not tell anyone else what you had told her. The last thing you wanted to do was risk being found by HYDRA again.

 

You were a bit of a hypocrite because of this though. You had promised Bucky that you wouldn’t tell anyone that he kidnapped you, but you did. You told Jo. He would be so angry with you if he were there. But he wasn’t there, or anywhere in fact. You were sure that he wasn’t even Bucky anymore, so he wouldn’t exactly care whether you told someone or not.

 

“Right, you’re staying with me tonight,” Jo told you.

 

“No, it’s alright, Jo, I’ll be...” You tried to reply.

 

“I’m not taking no for an answer, *_____*. You’re staying here so I can make sure you’re gonna be okay.”

 

“Okay, fine.”

 

“What would you do without me, huh? I’m the greatest and you know it,” Jo said with a cheeky smile before she left the room to get dinner sorted.

 

Even though you didn’t say it, you were very grateful to Jo for telling you to stay with her. Goodness knows you didn’t want to be alone.

 

You stayed up late watching movies with her, just like you had done when you were kids. In fact, it really was just like you were kids, because you were watching Disney movies. Mulan was always your favourite. When you were little, you wanted to grow up to be just as tough and badass as she was. Of course, it never happened, but that didn’t mean that you thought she was any less awesome.

 

It had gone 2am by the time you had both fallen asleep. You didn’t dream at all. Dreaming wasn’t a common thing for you, you just slept and woke up. Simple as.

 

Jo, on the other hand, was a dreamer. She shouted and moved a lot in her sleep. Most of the time you figured that she was playing football in her dreams, as she kicked a lot, and when you had had to share a bed with her, she usually ended up kicking you. It never disturbed you though, as you had become used to it and associated it with the fact that she was there and she would protect you, like big sisters should.

 

You would have slept right through the night if it hadn’t been for the loud banging on Jo’s front door.

 

“Ugh, what the hell?” Jo said, still half asleep, “For god’s sake, it’s only 6 o’clock.”

 

You didn’t think to get up at all. You thought that it might have been a package or even one of Jo’s friends.

 

It turned out that you probably should have gotten out of bed.

 

First there was talking that was quiet enough for you to not be able to hear. But then there was shouting, and you could easily hear Jo.

 

“No, you can’t come in, go away!” You heard her say desperately.

 

There was a loud string of no’s before you could hear several people coming up the stairs.

 

This was when you decided it would be best if you got up.

 

You stood up quickly just as the door was pushed open by a man in a uniform, who was holding a gun. There were two more men in the same uniform behind him, also carrying guns. It didn’t take long for you to realise who they were and why they were here.

 

_‘HYDRA.’_


	11. Chapter 11

“Why are you here? You let me go,” you said, clearly in distress.

 

“You really think we’d let you go? Now that you know about us? Don’t be stupid, girl,” one of the men replied.

 

Just outside the room you could see that one of the other men had hold of Jo, and it looked like she had her hands tied together. These men really weren’t taking any chances.

 

Jo was stronger than you, and it was easy to tell she was. Her arms had a lot more muscle than yours. The men had removed the greatest threat to what they were currently doing by taking Jo captive and tying her up. She couldn’t exactly do much now.

 

And even though you weren’t much of a threat to HYDRA’s plans at the moment, they did the same thing to you. One of the men grabbed you by both wrists and tied yours hands together with a piece of – very rough – rope.

 

“Now, we can do this the easy way, and you can follow us willingly. Or, we can do it the hard way. I recommend the easy way, if you don’t want to get hurt,” one of the men instructed.

 

You didn’t want either yourself or Jo to get hurt, so you walked forward towards the doorway. After exchanging worried glances with your sister, she followed your footsteps and joined you by your side.

 

The men led both of you out of the room, down the stairs, and eventually out of the house.

 

Despite the fact that Jo couldn’t really do anything to stop the men, that wasn’t about to stop her from trying.

 

She forcefully rammed herself into the side of the man on her left, causing him to stumble and fall. This wasn’t a very tactical move, as it would soon turn out. The other men immediately turned to face her with their guns all pointing directly at her.

 

“What do you think you’re doing, bitch?” One of the men still standing snapped at her.

 

“Trying to defend myself, what does it look like?” Jo replied sarcastically.

 

She always had been brave in the face of danger. But this would prove to be her disadvantage in this particular situation.

 

“You will keep quiet and do as you are told!” The man yelled.

 

All Jo had to say to this comment was simply, “No.”

 

Wrong move.

 

The man had had enough of her now, so he pulled the trigger of his gun.

 

The bullet flew straight into Jo’s stomach.

 

Blood gushed from the wound as she fell to the ground, screeching in pain.

 

You tried to run to her side, but the HYDRA agent to the side of you grabbed you and refused to let go. You attempted to pull yourself away and get to your sister, but it was no use.

 

You screamed for your sister. Your sister screamed in pain. She was going to die. There was no way that these agents would do anything to stop her from dying. They just left her to bleed out.

 

Eventually Jo’s screams stopped. She became silent and still. This just made you cry even harder. The tears were rolling down your face and your eyes were beginning to go red.

 

Your sister was gone. Dead. And there was nothing you could have done about it. You were powerless against it. If you ever needed proof that HYDRA and its workers were pure evil, this was it. All she was trying to do was defend herself and her little sister. The most important thing in your life was taken from you, just like that.

 

You still tried to pull yourself away from the agent that had a hold of you. You wanted to say goodbye.

 

But evidently the agent had grown fed up with your struggles.

 

He turned you around and punched you in the face. Hard. So hard in fact, that you fell to the ground.

 

Rather than leaving you there to grieve, the agent made you get back on your feet.

 

“Be quiet! Don’t make me do that again!” He shouted at you in a futile attempt at getting you to shut up.

 

“Why don’t you just fucking kill me?” You replied angrily as you spat a mouthful of blood out.

 

This must have sounded like a good suggestion to the agent, so he curled his fist up, ready for another punch. It made contact with your face again, and you fell to the ground for the second time.

 

You were about to go unconscious, you could feel it. Your eyes wouldn’t stay open and you could barely breathe. It was like the air had been completely knocked out of you.

 

Just before you went under and the agent tried to pick you up again, you could see a blurry shape come out of the sky, seemingly from nowhere. The shape attacked the agent that had punched you and the other agent that was with him. You couldn’t make out what this shape was at all.

 

Then it all went black.


	12. Chapter 12

You could just about hear muttered voices.

 

Several of them.

 

You had no idea who they belonged to though.

 

What if they were HYDRA?

 

No, you were sure they couldn’t be. You saw those two agents get attacked. Even though you didn’t know what attacked them, you figured that they must be on your side, since they seemed to be against HYDRA.

 

“Is she okay?” You heard one of the voices say.

 

“I’m not sure. Is she breathing?” You heard another say.

 

They must have been talking about you. This made you think that they were the good guys, as they sounded concerned about your wellbeing.

 

No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t manage to open your eyes. You were still very dizzy and almost unconscious anyway. Luckily you were able to move a tiny bit, which indicated to the people talking about you that you were still alive.

 

“Hey, guys look! She just moved!” One of the people said.

 

“How do we wake her up then?” Another said.

 

“I have an idea.”

 

After they said that, you were suddenly shaken very violently by the shoulders and you could hear a chorus of “Hey wake up!”s and “Can you hear me?”s

 

This made your eyes open straight away.

 

“Hey, look. My idea worked.”

 

You could see who was talking now. It was a man with short light brown hair who was wearing a purple and black outfit.

 

“Yeah, well done Clint. You want a medal?” The second person in the room said.

 

This one was a woman. She had medium length red hair and wore a black cat suit.

 

“Like you could have thought of anything any better, Natasha,” said the man.

 

Wait a minute. Natasha? Clint? You had heard those names before, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on what relevance they had.

 

Just then, another man walked in and told the other two to stop bickering.

 

You knew who this man was. It was Steve Rogers. It was Captain America.

 

 _‘Oh god, of course’._ These were the Avengers. You were with the Avengers. You didn’t know whether to be starstruck or confused, so you settled on a combination of the two.

 

“Where am I?” You drowsily asked the three Avengers currently in the room.

 

Much to your own joy, it was Steve that answered your question. He came and sat next to you, smiling as sweetly as humanly possible.

 

“Hi, *_____*, you’re in Avengers Tower. Are you okay?”

 

 _‘Oh my god. Avengers Tower? Holy shit.’_ It was like a dream come true for you. You were chatting with Captain America himself. This was nearly identical to the things you fantasized about in the Smithsonian. You were almost too astounded to answer the question.

 

“Yeah, I’m... I’m okay... I guess... A little... dizzy still,” you eventually replied, still in shock regarding the current situation.

 

“Okay then, well you get some rest and you’ll be fine in no time,” Steve advised.

 

You couldn’t at all believe what was happening. You were in Avengers Tower. With the Avengers. And they were looking after you? You thought you were going crazy, or that you were at least only dreaming.

 

By now you had realised that you were lying on a very comfortable sofa, so getting rest wouldn’t be a problem. You closed your eyes and fell asleep pretty much straight away.

 

And for the first time in years, you dreamt while you slept.

 

Well, it was more like a nightmare.

 

You dreamt of Jo’s death, over and over again. It was the same every time. You could never get to her. You could never save her. She just died again and again.

 

You hated HYDRA for what they did.

 

For what they did to Jo.

 

And for what they did to Bucky.


	13. Chapter 13

You woke up with a tear-stained face, no doubt because of the nightmare. It was things like that that made you glad that you very rarely dreamt. Luckily there was no one around to notice that you had been crying.

 

You wondered what time it was, so you tried to locate a clock.

 

When you found one, you saw that you had only been asleep for about 2 hours. You figured you were well rested enough now.

 

You got up off of the sofa and went off to see if you could find anyone.

 

But as far as you were concerned at the moment, someone found you first.

 

“Good morning, Miss *______*,” a voice called out.

 

You couldn’t see anyone around, so you were a bit worried about where this voice was coming from. Was there someone watching you in secret?

 

“Who’s there?” You asked, the worry obvious in the sound of your voice.

 

“Don’t mind him, it’s only J.A.R.V.I.S,” you heard another voice say.

 

This time you could see the source of the speech. It was another man, that you easily recognized as being world famous billionaire Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man.

 

“Jarvis?” You asked.

 

“Yeah, he’s my uh... electronic butler I suppose. It means Just Another Rather Very Intelligent System. And he sure loves to brag about that,” Tony answered.

 

You were still in complete shock about this whole situation. I mean, it’s not every day that you’re kidnapped by an assassin, taken hostage by an evil organisation, and saved by the Avengers.

 

“I’ll go tell the others that you’re awake,” Tony continued, “We have a few questions for you.”

 

Sooner than later, nearly all of the Avengers were gathered in the room with you. There was Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow and even the Hulk, except he was in human form, so he was just Bruce Banner at the moment. Thor wasn’t there, so you figured that he must have been busy with something else.

 

“Now, *_____*, could you tell us exactly what happened?” Captain America asked you.

 

Did that mean tell them about everything? Even about Bucky? You weren’t sure you wanted to do that because it could land him in more trouble than he was already in.

 

But you couldn’t lie to the Avengers. You had to tell them. It would be the right thing to do.

 

“Well,” you started, “first of all I was kidnapped from the Smithsonian museum.”

 

“Do you know who it was that kidnapped you?” Natasha asked.

 

“Yes. It was... It was the Winter Soldier,” you admitted rather reluctantly.

 

You saw Steve’s face drop at the mention of his brain washed best friend. You could hardly blame him though. You couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for him to think he lost everyone he ever knew, but then find out one of them was still alive and didn’t remember who he was.

 

“Then what happened?” He questioned.

 

“HYDRA showed up. They took us both to some sort of military base. I don’t know where it is though. They let me go after a few days, but Buck... I mean, the Winter Soldier was kept behind. HYDRA came for me again after that, and they... they killed my sister.”

 

You wanted to cry after recounting your tale. You had been through so much more in that past week than you had in your entire life.

 

And it made you sick.

 

Yes, you wanted adventure, you wanted excitement, but you would never want this. The kind of excitement you wanted was going on vacations with a few friends, getting a job that you actually enjoyed, or even settling down in a good relationship with someone you loved.

 

You didn’t want this.

 

You never wanted this.


	14. Chapter 14

Over the next few days, the Avengers helped you deal with the stress caused by what had happened to you.

 

You had regular sessions where you would talk about what happened and how you were feeling about it. There were sometimes tears, but that wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle. But one thing you never mentioned in these sessions was how you felt about Bucky. You didn’t want anybody to know about that, no matter how much you were thinking about it.

 

And you were thinking about it – well, him – rather a lot.

 

You couldn’t get him off your mind. You knew what HYDRA had most likely turned him into again, but that didn’t change how you felt.

 

You didn’t want to mention him too much anyway in case it upset Steve, as every time you did say something regarding the Winter Soldier, his face seemed to drop and his eyes started to look sad. You didn’t want to do that to him.

 

During the last one of these sessions you had, you were talking to Bruce, and the subject was, non-surprisingly, anger. You told him how angry you were at HYDRA for what he did to you and your sister. And for what they did to Bucky of course, but you didn’t mention that. Bruce then taught you various techniques for staying calm and controlling anger. He told you to try them all out and see which one worked best for you.

 

You figured that he must have known what he was talking about, given that, in New York, he had actually managed to control the Hulk.

 

This session was probably the best one you had had, and it made you feel a lot better.

 

But, that’s when it happened.

 

BANG!

 

The sound of a huge explosion rang out through the room and sent nearly everyone into a state of at least slight panic. Well, actually, the Avengers had managed to remain quite composed in their concern. You, on the other hand, were freaking out.

 

“What happened?” You asked frantically.

 

“We’re not sure yet,” Natasha, who seemed to be the calmest person there, replied.

 

BANG! Another explosion.

 

“We’re under attack!” Tony warned everyone, after he had very quickly checked the security footage.

 

“Do we know what’s attacking us?” Clint asked.

 

“From what I can see, it looks like... HYDRA.”

 

_‘Oh god. Not again.’_

It was like they were following you. Everywhere you went, it wasn’t long until they showed up. They always showed up.

 

You really started to panic now. How long would it be until HYDRA got you for good? Or even killed you?

 

“What should I do?” You asked anyone who would listen.

 

It was Steve that answered you.

 

“Just stay here. Stay safe,” he instructed.

 

You did as you were told without hesitation. You really didn’t want to get involved at all if you could help it.

 

“Right,” Steve began, “Are we all ready for what’s about to happen? We don’t know how much of a punch these guys are gonna pack, so we’ve gotta be prepared for whatever they throw at us.”

 

You had to admit, Steve was an excellent team leader. Well, you already knew that anyway from how much you studied him and the Howling Commandos at the Smithsonian.

 

God, you wanted to go back to that. It was so simple, yet so much fun. You didn’t have to worry about staying safe and alive. You weren’t constantly hunted down by HYDRA agents. It wasn’t fair what happened to you. You never asked for it.

 

“Security system breeched,” you heard J.A.R.V.I.S’s robotic voice say.

 

“Alright, Avengers,” Tony said, “It’s go time.”

 

Tony hadn’t had time to get one of his suits, so there was a serious disadvantage on the side of the Avengers.

 

The doors were swung open and at least a dozen men carrying guns burst in.

 

There was gunfire almost immediately. Battle had commenced, and where were you? You were hidden underneath a solid oak coffee table, hoping and praying that you would be safe there.

 

The agents were fighting a lot harder than they usually would have done, which meant that the Avengers were having to fight back a lot harder than they usually would have done.

 

The heroes were growing tired and the villains were winning.

 

After a while, HYDRA had won. The Avengers had all been reduced to collapsed heaps on the ground, gasping for breath and bleeding.

 

You were even more terrified now. You knew they were going to find you and take you again. And this time they probably wouldn’t let you go at all.

 

From where you were, you could see them talking to one another, although you couldn’t make out most of what they were saying as they spoke in quite hushed voices.

 

But there was one thing that you could hear clear as day.

 

“Bring in the Soldier.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's so short, but I was suffering a bit of writer's block and I wanted to get it done.
> 
> Anyway, thank you to all who have read this, commented, and/or left kudos. I am very grateful :)

That was all the conformation you needed. The experiments had worked. Bucky was officially the Winter Soldier again.

 

And he was here. With HYDRA.

 

You could see him walk in through the doors with two more agents. He was carrying a rather large machine gun, and he was outfitted with several more weapons. Guns, knives, you name them.

 

One of the agents was talking to him, and at the end of the conversation, the agent pointed in your direction.

 

How did they know you were there? You hadn’t made a sound. You came to the conclusion that they must have seen you when you were trying to get a look at what they were doing.

 

As soon as their conversation had ended, Bucky, or rather, the Winter Soldier, headed directly towards you.

 

You may as well have screamed in terror, it wouldn’t have made any difference, but you stayed silent. All you did was think _‘Oh shit’_ to yourself over and over again.

 

When he got to where you were, the Winter Soldier reached down, grabbed you roughly by the hair with his metal arm and pulled you out from underneath the table. But he didn’t let go of you. He just shifted his grip to your arm and made sure that you wouldn’t get away.

 

“Bucky, please, let me go,” you begged, now absolutely bawling your eyes out.

 

He didn’t pay any attention to your pleas. He was completely under HYDRA’s control now. He just waited for his next order.

 

“Make sure she doesn’t get away,” one of the agents commanded him, “We’ll deal with her when we get back to base.”

 

That was it; you knew you were done for. There was no way you would be saved now. HYDRA was going to take you hostage once again and most likely kill you, and there was nothing anybody could do about it. The Avengers were all unconscious, and the strongest person in the room that was still awake was playing for the other team.

 

Leaving Avengers Tower behind, you were dragged to a truck that was parked out front and shoved into the back of it. Your hands had been cuffed, so there wasn’t any way you could fight the agents or the Winter Soldier off.

 

You just had to sit there and accept what was going to happen to you.

 

The journey to the base felt almost twice as long as it did the first time, but that was probably because you were dreading the destination even more since there was barely even a possibility of getting out of there alive.

 

Once the truck pulled up outside the base, you were pulled out your seat and dragged to another prison cell. Your handcuffs weren’t removed though, so you were still pretty much defenceless.

 

The agents left the cell one by one, leaving you with the incredibly dangerous, once again brainwashed soldier.

 

“Deal with her,” the last one said before he shut and locked the door.


	16. Chapter 16

The Winter Soldier stared at you with an expression as hard as stone. His once soulful eyes contained less emotion than you thought was humanly possible.

 

This meant that you couldn’t read him. You didn’t know what he was going to do, you didn’t know what he was thinking, or if he was thinking at all. All you had to go off was the order that the agent had given him: the order to deal with you.

 

He was most likely going to kill you, that you had accepted, but you just hoped that it would be over quickly. And your fear still made you hopeful that begging for mercy might work.

 

“Bucky, please don’t do this. I know you’re still in there somewhere,” you pleaded, not sure if you were actually telling the truth.

 

Was he still in there? Or was there nothing left of the man you had got to know?

 

You had no idea, and you couldn’t very well ask him, could you? The only shot you had was to try and remind of who he was and of who you were.

 

“Come on, Bucky, you know who I am,” you tried again, hoping you’d at least get a small response from him.

 

“No, I don’t,” Bucky replied very sternly.

 

“Yes you do, we’re friends, you’ve told me everything about you.”

 

“I have no friends. All I have are orders. I get the orders, I follow them, and I eliminate anything standing in my way.”

 

“You don’t have to follow them; you have a mind of your own.”

 

“You’re just trying to save yourself. Here’s a tip; don’t. There’s no point.”

 

With that, the Winter Soldier pulled out a knife from his belt and started walking towards you.

 

You could feel your breathing growing rapid. You could hear the blood pumping in your ears. You were terrified. And all you could do about it was beg and scream.

 

“Bucky, please!” You shrieked.

 

You were immediately silenced. Bucky put his hand over your mouth and brought the knife up to your neck.

 

You closed your eyes and prepared yourself for the cold embrace of death, still screaming at the top of your lungs.

 

He took his time, making you wait. It was torturous. You could feel the tears beginning to trickle down your face.

 

Eventually, he pressed the knife up against your skin. It was freezing cold.

 

Just as he was about to kill you...

 

CRASH! BANG!

 

A chorus of half a dozen loud noises rang out mixed with the screams of the agents of HYDRA.

 

Bucky’s attention was grabbed by the kerfuffle, making him take the knife and his hand away from you. He headed for the door, but hesitated. He was going to complete the task that was set for him.

 

He turned back to you, and very quickly plunged his knife into your stomach.

 

At that moment, all the air was knocked out of you. The blood was flowing out of you at an alarming speed, so you covered the wound with both your hands in a feeble attempt to stop yourself from bleeding to death.

 

As the Winter Soldier left the room, you fell to the floor, gasping in pain.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I'm taking so long to upload lately, I'm just struggling to write a bit.
> 
> But thank you for all the comments and kudos etc. I appreciate it a lot :)

You didn't have enough energy in you to scream for help. No matter how much you wanted to, you couldn't get an audible sound out of your mouth. 

  
  
Your breathing had become erratic and each sip of air you took made your lungs feel like they were about to burst. 

  
  
You were still clutching the puncture in your stomach in a pretty much futile attempt in holding onto your life for a little while longer. 

  
  
The banging, crashing and screaming outside of the room just kept going. It didn't show any signs of stopping. Gradually, the noises got closer until the source must have been right outside the door. 

 

You tried again to make a sound and call for help, but the only thing that escaped your lips was a tiny "help". 

  
  
_'Dammit,'_ you thought to yourself. There was no way anybody would have heard that. 

  
  
Still, you were determined to get the attention of whoever was outside, so you mustered all the breath and energy you had and braced yourself for the pain that shouting would undoubtedly cause you. 

  
  
"Help, please!" You called as loud as you possibly could. 

  
  
Somebody must have heard you, because there was suddenly a loud knocking on the door. 

  
  
"We're here to help, '_____', we'll get you out," a voice said. They knew your name but you couldn't quite make out who it was. You weren't able to concentrate enough to try and figure that out right now. 

  
  
You heard the clatter of a lock falling to the fall and the door swung open. 

  
  
As soon as the person who knew your name walked in, you instantly recognised them as being Steve Rogers, or more formally, Captain America. The Avengers, or at least a couple of them, must have come to help you. 

  
  
He spotted that you were covered in blood and that you had your hands over your wounded stomach right away. 

  
  
"What happened?" He asked you. 

  
  
"Bucky.... He..." You gasped. That was all you could manage to say before you winced in pain. 

  
  
Steve got the message anyway. 

 

"Come on, we're getting you out of here," he said, "Can you stand?" 

  
  
You shook your head, so he carefully scooped you up in his arms and carried you out of the room.

   
  
"Natasha, Clint, can you handle anything that gets in the way? We have to get '_____' out of here. She needs medical attention immediately." Steve instructed the two S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

   
  
"Sure thing, Cap," Clint replied. 

  
  
Hawkeye and Black Widow led the escape charge from the HYDRA base, with Captain America following close behind, still carrying you. 

  
  
You had one of your hands tightly gripped to his shoulder to make sure you didn't fall, and the other was still covering your stomach.

 

As you neared the exit, you all regrouped with Tony Stark, who was there as well. But he had someone else with him. 

 

The Winter Soldier was unconscious on the ground by his feet. 

 

"He didn't go down easy," Tony joked. 

  
  
"We're going to have to take him with us. We can't leave him with HYDRA," Natasha stated. 

 

"Woah, hold on there, Nat, the guy's dangerous," Clint protested. 

 

"I know that, but he'll be even more dangerous if he's loose. We need to keep our eyes on him." 

  
  
Everyone there agreed with what Natasha had said. 

  
  
The Avengers that were with you left the HYDRA base with Bucky in tow and you in Steve's arms.

   
  
Your eyes were beginning to feel heavy, but you didn't want to shut them in fear of them never opening again. You tried your hardest to keep them open and watching everything that was happening around you. You thought that if you concentrated on it all hard enough, you might be able to stay awake. 

  
  
Soon enough you all got back to Avengers Tower and several members of medical staff tended to your wound. 

  
  
You weren't going to die yet.


	18. Chapter 18

Within the next few days, you made nearly a full recovery. Your wound was almost completely healed and you could just about move for yourself again.

   
  
The medical staff examined you every so often, but you didn't really need the attention anymore.

   
  
In the mean time, the Avengers' attention had been occupied by the Winter Soldier. They were busy interrogating him to find out what he knew about HYDRA's plans.

   
  
So far, no one had succeeded in this task, not even Natasha.

   
  
“He's barely said a word,” she reported when she came back from where Bucky was being held, “He won't tell me anything. I've tried everything.”

   
  
“And he's not said anything to you, Steve?” Tony asked.

   
  
“Not a word. HYDRA trained him well,” Steve replied.

   
  
Nothing seemed to be working. Not even two of the most experienced spies in all of S.H.I.E.L.D could get any information.

   
  
But you had an idea, even though you weren't entirely sure it would actually work. 

  
  
“Can I try?” You requested.

   
  
The first reply you were met with was several concerned faces.

   
  
The second reply came from Clint.

   
  
“’_____’, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, he did try to kill you when you last had a conversation,” he said. 

  
  
“I might be able to get through to him. We became quite close after he... erm... kidnapped me.”

  
  
“It's worth a shot, I suppose. We're out of any other options,” Steve said. He was clearly upset by all of this, as he should be really.

   
  
“I'll come with you, just in case anything bad happens,” Natasha told you.

   
  
“Okay, but let me talk to him alone,” you bargained.

   
  
Natasha led you to where Bucky was being held.

   
  
The door was unlocked and you stepped inside. It was a dimly lit room with a table and a couple of chairs.

   
  
 _'Fairly stereotypical,'_ you thought to yourself.

   
  
Bucky – or rather the Winter Soldier as he was at this point – had his cuffed hands resting on the table. 

  
  
His facial expression was like stone, and the sight of it sent shivers down your spine.

   
  
“Hi, Bucky,” you said as gently as possible.

   
  
He didn't reply. Boy did that feel familiar. 

  
  
“Don't you remember me?” You asked him. 

  
  
“I have no idea who you are,” he stated coldly.

   
  
“I need you to try and remember. Everything will be better if you do.”

  
  
“How do I know you're not lying?”

   
  
“I would never lie to you.”

   
  
After you said this, his face softened for a moment, but quickly returned to its steely expression. He stared at you as if he was trying to bore a hole through your skull.

   
  
You wanted to attempt to comfort him and make him feel safe. You really did care about him. 

  
  
“We're only trying to help you, Bucky,” you said.

   
  
You didn't quite know if that was the full truth. You certainly wanted to help him, ans you were pretty sure that Steve did too. But you didn't think that anybody else had helping as their main concern. The rest of the Avengers most likely just wanted the information about HYDRA.

   
  
You weren't as bothered about getting information and interrogating him, you were more bothered about his personal wellbeing and how he was feeling.

   
  
“What are you thinking? How are you feeling?” You asked him, sounding a little too much like a therapist for your liking.

   
  
“What?” He questioned. He was obviously shocked that someone was actually asking him that and that someone seemed to care. 

  
  
“Can you tell me?”

  
  
He looked deep in thought for a few moments, like he was trying to figure out what his own mind was thinking.

   
  
“I don't know," he started, "I don't know anything. I don't know why it was me that HYDRA did this to. I don't know what I'm fighting for.”

   
  
“It's HYDRA. They're just evil,” you said.

   
  
“Does that make me evil then?”

 

“No, of course not. You weren't given a choice.”

  
  
“I still did it though. I still killed all those people.”

 

“None of that was your fault, Bucky.”

  
  
You reached your hands out to hold his, hoping that he would take it as you meant it; as a sign of comfort. 

  
  
He flinched slightly, but let his hands rest on the table with yours resting on top of it. The metal one was incredibly cold, and the non metal one was quite warm. The contrast felt oddly soothing on your skin.

 

“It’ll be okay, Bucky. I promise.”

 

“Thank you, ‘_____’.”

 

He remembered.


	19. Chapter 19

All the memories appeared to come crashing down on top of him at once. He kept murmuring things to himself, but you couldn't make out what he was saying. You figured it was the things he was remembering.

   
  
His eyes began to cloud over with tears, and somehow he looked more murderous than he did earlier. He must have become extremely angry at HYDRA.

   
  
Even though he remembered who you are now, you were still scared of how aggressive he looked. You half wanted to try and comfort him, but you also wanted to get out of that room and leave him be.

   
  
The latter option won. 

  
  
“Natasha,” you called, “Can you open the door now?”

   
  
After a moment, the door was unlocked and Natasha stepped inside the room.

   
  
“What did you find out?” She asked you.

   
  
“Nothing. It doesn't matter though he-,” you were cut off. 

  
  
“Nothing? Are you kidding me?” She turned to Bucky, “What do you know about HYDRA's plans?” She asked him sternly.

 

“I don't know anything,” he replied. 

  
  
“Liar.” 

  
  
You knew he wasn't lying, you could tell by his facial expression and the way he said it, but you didn't have the courage to speak up and tell Natasha that she was wrong. And you hated yourself for that. 

  
  
“I'm not lying. They gave me the orders and I followed them blindly. They never told me any plans,” Bucky protested.

   
  
“You're still lying to me,” Natasha was convinced.

   
  
Bucky had had enough of this. He stood up slammed his still cuffed hands down onto the table as hard as he could and roared.

   
  
“I'm not lying!”

   
  
He stared at Natasha like a wild animal staring down its enemy. His eyes looked so intense and you could see he had his jaws clenched together in anger and frustration.

   
  
But Natasha wasn't having any of this. She didn't believe any of what he was saying. So  in the end, you decided it would be best to speak up.

   
  
“He's telling the truth,” you piped up. 

  
  
“What?” Natasha questioned, clearly not believing you either.

   
  
“He's not lying. He told me everything he knew, but none of it was about HYDRA's plans.”

  
  
She seemed to believe you. Her face softened and she looked over to Bucky, who still looked incredibly angry.

   
  
She looked back at you.

   
  
“Is this completely true, '_____'?” She asked you. 

  
  
"Yes," you replied in all honesty.

   
  
She appeared to be deep in thought for a few moments, most likely debating whether or not to actually believe you. Eventually, she spoke again. 

  
  
“Fine. I'll tell the others,” she said as she began to walk over towards the door.

   
  
“Wait, what about him?” You asked, gesturing in Bucky's direction, “We can't just leave him here, can we?”

  
  
“It'd be best if we did. Just in case he tries something.”

   
  
“He won't though. He's different now.”

   
  
“Alright. But I'm putting him under your supervision. If anything happens it'll be on you.”

 

That was fair enough, you supposed. 

  
  
Natasha pulled the keys for Bucky's handcuffs out of her pocket and walked over to him. She unlocked the cuffs, and Bucky sighed in relief and rubbed his wrists. Those cuffs must have been awfully tight. 

 

“Thank you, Nat,” you said.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this is the last chapter of this fanfic, so I'd just like to take a moment to say thank you so much to anyone who read this, commented, or left kudos. I am so grateful to all of you. I probably wouldn't have completed this if it weren't for you guys.  
> As promised, there is a bit of fluff in this chapter.  
> Enjoy!

Over the next couple of weeks, the Avengers were working hard to try and take down HYDRA once and for all. But no one was working nearly as hard as Steve was.   
  
He had dedicated everything he had to defeat HYDRA. He had given up his former life trying to achieve this. He was heartbroken when he found out that it was all for nothing.   
  
And he was even more heartbroken when he found out that his best friend had become a part if what he was fighting.   
  
You felt so sorry for him. You wanted to help him, somehow.   
  
The best you could do was try and make Bucky completely remember who he was, and the maybe they could be friends again, like they had been all those years ago.   
  
So while the Avengers worked to defeat HYDRA, you worked to help Bucky. You really wouldn't be much use in fighting anyway. And plus, you enjoyed spending time with Bucky. You could talk to him about anything, and he could talk to you the same way. And both of you would be utterly captivated by what the other was saying.   
  
You were definitely good friends now, but the truth was, part of you wanted to be more than that...   
  
Wait, what? Did you really think that? Should you tell him? What would he say? All those questions and quite a few more rushed through your mind and it was almost making you dizzy. You could barely concentrate on anything, let alone trying to have a conversation with him. You found yourself staring straight into his beautiful blue eyes, very nearly drifting off into a daydream.   
  
Unfortunately for you, Bucky picked up on the fact that you weren't exactly thinking straight, and of course, he questioned it.   
  
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, with real concern in his voice.   
  
"What? Yeah. I'm fine," you replied, rushing the words out as you snapped out of your daze.   
  
You could tell that he didn't believe you for a second. He looked at you like a parent trying to get the truth out of a lying little kid.

 

“Really?” He asked.

 

“Yeah. I mean... It doesn’t matter.”

 

“C’mon, ‘_____’, what’s going on with you? You’re acting weird.

 

“It's just... We're good friends, right?”  
  
“Erm... Yeah.”  
  
“Well, how would you feel about...” You could barely get the words out of your mouth you were stuttering so much.   
  
“About what? About being more than friends?”  
  
You were completely shocked at what came out of Bucky's mouth. Was he thinking the same things you were? Or was he reading your mind? At this point, you strangely enough believed the latter possibility more.   
  
“What?” Was all you could manage to say.   
  
“That's what you were gonna say, wasn't it?” He said.   
  
“Yeah, but... I mean... What?”  
  
You could feel the blood rushing to your cheeks. You felt so embarrassed. You could have quite happily curled up into a ball in the corner of the room for the rest of your life and not moved.   
  
You put your head down to try and hide the fact that you were blushing furiously, but Bucky brought his hand to the bottom of your chin and raised your head so you were looking straight at him.   
  
“Well my answer to that,” he said extremely sweetly, “would be 'I would feel great about that'.”  
  
You were in disbelief. Was this a dream? Was it some kind of prank?   
  
No. It was real.   
  
And this was confirmed to you by Bucky bringing your face closer to his and gently pressing his lips against yours for a moment.   
  
You didn't want that moment to end, but when it did, you could see Bucky's bright blue eyes looking at you with nothing but affection.   
  
“I'd feel great about that too,” you smiled.


End file.
